3/25/2023
The time has come: I’m off! The journey into the unknown begins. I don’t know what the coming years have in store for me. Doesn’t matter! I had to repeatedly abandon my plans from the last few years. Then now without a plan. Maybe that will work better. The jobs have been terminated, the room has been vacated… and now?
Why this step?
I spent a year in Morsbach, a small community with around 10,000 inhabitants. In times of uncertainty and crisis, it was my place of refuge. However, I never thought I would stay for a year. It was supposed to be something temporary until I could return to Ukraine, to Mukachevo. I remember the first weeks and months of the war. “The war will be over in two months at most!” was heard on every corner and on television. Two months became six months. Now it’s been over a year. Hope that the war will end soon is diminishing. After a year, many Ukrainians from Morsbach make the difficult decision whether they should go back to Ukraine or stay in Germany. Most of them stay and integrate more and more into the village community.
For me the situation is slightly different. My family lives in Morsbach and when the war started I had a place to go. However, I always left it open to returning and only extended employment contracts for short periods of time. I enjoyed the time with my family and the work as a social worker in the local administration and as a German teacher at a community school were very fulfilling and meaningful. Morsbach is also perfect for young families and for “growing old”. However, I’m not at that point in life yet.
It’s strange, but the time just before saying goodbye is always the most beautiful and intense. As if life were winking at you and saying: “Well, maybe you’ll change your mind after all?”. I know why that is. All the work is gone, the stress is gone and you finally have time for the good things: having longer conversations with friends and colleagues, exploring your interests and simply enjoying the moment. The Ukrainian community invites you to eat (thank you, Svitlana, for the many wonderful evenings!) and celebrate, laugh and sing. Everything could be so beautiful if…
I wouldn’t be drawn so much into the world!
What you can prepare for in this blog
“But Patrick, where are you going?” – I understand the question very well. But I find it difficult to answer. Normally, each of my trips had a deadline and required precise planning. I had to be home again by the end of my vacation or the beginning of the lecture period at the university. This time that is completely eliminated. I have the freedom to make new decisions every day. If I like a place, I can stay there for a few months. Anything as long as my financial situation allows me.
It is a journey to myself and happiness. I will meet people from different places around the world and ask them what makes them happy and what is important to them in life. I’ll write the lessons learned in a little book and describe them on this blog. Basically, it is similar to Hector’s journey in “Hector’s Journey or the Search for Happiness” by François Lelord. However, I don’t know yet whether I will meet Tibetan monks 😃
Thank you for accompanying me on the journey! Stay tuned! It’s definitely me! And now: First stop – Munich!